“They apparently do not understand the gun laws in Massachusetts and think we trampled on the Second Amendment,” Quigley said, explaining that firearms have to be secured in Massachusetts. “Whether it is a good law or a bad law, we have to enforce it and act in the best interests of the community."

Mary Ford mford@wickedlocal.com

The Cohasset Police Department’s Facebook posting about the incident involving guns being confiscated from a home at 50 Doane St. last Friday (April 14) was viewed more than 650,000 times by people from around the country, some of whom were expressing outrage in the comments section that the gun owner’s Second Amendment rights were violated.

Chief Bill Quigley has also been fielding phone calls from places as far away as Texas and Alabama, including from some callers who were angrily questioning the incident. Under Massachusetts State Law, firearms have to be secured in a locked cabinet or with a trigger lock.

“They apparently do not understand the gun laws in Massachusetts and think we trampled on the Second Amendment,” Quigley said, explaining that firearms have to be secured in Massachusetts. “Whether it is a good law or a bad law, we have to enforce it and act in the best interests of the community."

Robert Stoddard, 65, of 50 Doane St., became the subject of an investigation last week when police followed up on complaints about his behavior and on a report from a credible source about unsecured firearms strewn about the house.

While executing a search warrant, police removed about 100 unsecured weapons including shotguns, rifles and pistols. A Navy unit out of Newport, R.I. took custody of five military-grade ordnance shells also found in the home. Police also found grave markers in the home allegedly taken from the cemetery across the street.

All the weapons were checked by the police department’s armorer, a weapons expert, before being taken to the police station for safekeeping.

Cohasset police filed charges in Quincy District Court on Tuesday (April 18) against Stoddard for desecrating a grave (3-counts), receiving stolen property (5-counts), improper storage of a handgun (3-counts), and possession of a firearm with obliterated serial numbers. Stoddard will be in court on May 3 to answer to the charges.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms are assisting Cohasset Police Detectives with this case.

Police are now working to identify family members of the servicemen, firefighter, and police officer, whose graves were impacted by these alleged thefts.

Quigley said they are talking with a Stoddard family member, who does not live in Cohasset, to see if the guns can be returned to the family otherwise they will be sent to a bonded warehouse for storage that charges a fee that can exceed the value of the weapon.

Police revoked Stoddard’s license to possess firearms last week based upon the unsecured weapons and complaints about his behavior that included being seen relieving himself outside his home on his property.

The Cohasset Police Facebook press release on the incident continued to “go viral” and is no longer available on the site due to the vitriolic response that has included some threats to officers, Quigley said.